Ryan Keith McAllister is 25 today, enjoying a Happy Birthday and a Happy New Year as he has each year since 1990.

That is when Pat and Connie McAllister’s son was born at 12:34 a.m. at Memorial Hospital in Belleville, making him the first baby of the new year born in the metro-east and the topic of this first Throwback Thursday of 2015.

For full disclosure, a little girl was born 20 seconds after midnight to parents Charles and Michelle Will of Glen Carbon. However she was born in St. Louis, so we’re sticking with Ryan as our first baby of 1990.

So what’s happened in the past 25 years?

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He played trombone in the Belleville District 118 marching band and jazz ensemble.

He became an Eagle Scout.

He got his varsity letters in wrestling and football at Belleville West.

He joined the Arkansas National Guard and currently is finishing his studies in law enforcement at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville.

Pat McAllister is pretty pleased with how his New Year’s baby turned out.

“It was fun to watch him grow up and discover things. You watch and hope he makes the right decisions, and you make sure you are there for him when he needs advice. He has a plan of action for his future and I look forward to seeing him move ahead,” Pat McAllister said.

Ryan was originally due on Christmas, but made his parents wait a week. Having a birthday on New Year’s Day posed some of the same problems experienced by Christmas babies, whose day is often overshadowed by the big holiday.

“Early on it was fun having his birthday on the holiday — and easy to remember his birthday,” Pat McAllister said. “We always had extra presents and would not lump his birthday in with Christmas.”

The New Year’s Day birthday created some parental angst in 2011.

“Since he turned 21, he’s liked his birthday a lot. Near that time I started to worry a little bit,” Pat McAllister said.

Ryan McAllister hasn’t been able to cause his folks too much birthday worry because he wound up working at his bar and restaurant jobs most New Year’s Eves since he reached the legal drinking age. He was just home for Christmas with his parents in Belleville, so he’ll spend this birthday in Arkansas.

Pat McAllister’s advice for today’s parents of the first baby of the New Year is pretty universal: “Be open to the possibilities of what your child wants to do. Be there for them if they need advice. Watch over them and enjoy the ride.”

To see more photos, the original article about Ryan McAllister becoming the first baby of 1990 and past episodes of Throwback Thursday, visit us online at bnd.com/tbt.

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